Deeplinks Blog posts about Computer Fraud And Abuse Act Reform

Today, Reps. Zoe Lofgren and Jim Sensenbrenner, and Sen. Ron Wyden introduced Aaron’s Law, a bipartisan bill to reform the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), the law notoriously used in the aggressive prosecution of the late Aaron Swartz. Lofgren and Sensenbrenner's bill draws from EFF’s own proposal written in the wake of Aaron’s tragic death and fixes some of the main problems with the CFAA. You can tell your representative to support common sense changes to the CFAA by going here.

If you've ever looked for an apartment on craigslist, chances are you've taken notes: compiled a list of apartments, ranked them from most expensive to least expensive or by most desirable location to worst. You felt secure that you weren't breaking any laws, and definitely not committing a crime. This should be the case.

In the months since Aaron Swartz’s death, it’s become clear to the American public that the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”) has become one of the most dangerous and abused criminal laws available to prosecutors. One of its biggest problems—its draconian sentencing scheme—is on full display in the case of Jeremy Hammond.

The public lost another battle in the U.S. v. Aaron Swartz case, this one over transparency. On May 13, 2013, the U.S. District Court judge handling the prosecution sided with the government, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and JSTOR and refused to make public any information in the case that any of these three entities wished to keep under seal. The ruling effectively grants the Department of Justice, MIT and JSTOR a veto over what the public gets to know about the investigation.

Tomorrow, the Justice Department will brief the Senate Judiciary staff on the prosecution of the late activist and Internet pioneer Aaron Swartz, who died in January. Swartz has become a lasting symbol for how the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) can be twisted by authorities to mete out draconian punishments and turn millions of Internet users into criminals.

Previously, Sen. John Cornyn asked pointed questions to Attorney General Eric Holder about the case in an oversight hearing of the Justice Department (DOJ). Thursday’s briefing will be an opportunity for the Judiciary Committee to ask more detailed questions and follow up on answers that Holder promised the Senators.